Crisis Chronology

PERU

12/05/2023

Constitutional court orders release of Alberto Fujimori for humanitarian reasons.

05/07/2023

Government sends Venezuelan refugees who were stranded at the border with Peru back to Venezuela, angering Peru government.

04/27/2023

Peru sends military to its border with Chile to prevent illegal migrants from crossing.

04/04/2023

Congress votes against the impeachment of Boluarte over the alleged killings of protesters during the ongoing protests. Protests continue.

03/29/2023

Peruvian prosecutors are investigating President Dina Boluarte and former president Pedro Castillo for allegedly laundering money as part of a criminal organization. The probe into the alleged crimes by Boluarte and Castillo is part of a continuing investigation into alleged campaign finance crimes committed during Peru’s 2021 presidential race.

02/25/2023

Mexico says it will keep its ambassador in Peru despite Peru withdrawing its ambassador to Mexico to protest Mexico’s support for Castillo.

02/21/2023

Attorney general formally charges Castillo with influence peddling, organized crime and being an accomplice to collusion committed during his administration, a day after the Congress passes a “constitutional complaint” allowing the attorney general to do so. The AG also begins investigations into two former cabinet ministers.

01/31/2023

Legislature fails to agree on moving elections earlier. Protests continue.

01/30/2023

OAS passes a resolution calling for early elections in Peru.

01/27/2023

Boluarte calls on congress to hold elections even earlier than 4/24, but Congress rejects the proposal. It will meet again to discuss the election timetable. Boluarte says that if Congress does not move up the elections, she will seek a constitutional change to hold the first round of elections in 10/23 and a runoff in 12/23.

01/26/2023

Leftist legislators submit a bill of impeachment against Boluarte, although it seems unlikely to pass.

01/24/2023

Very large demonstrations against the government in Lima and elsewhere. More than fifty have died in the protests. Boluarte calls for a “truce” and further discussions.

01/21/2023

Government closes access to Macchu Pichu ostensibly to protect tourists as protests continue to grow.

01/18/2023

Protestors stream into Lima. Police fire tear gas to keep them out of the main business and political districts.

01/18/2023

Protestors end blockades around Santa Cruz but say they may resume if there is no action by the government.

01/17/2023

Protests grow with large groups converging on Lima.

01/14/2023

Government imposes a state of emergency in Lima and several other regions for thirty days, beginning on 1/15. The order suspends some basic rights and allows the army to operate freely, to suppress the protests if possible.

01/13/2023

Boluarte declines to resign despite calls for that. The attorney general announces an investigation into the deaths during the protests.

01/10/2023

Prime Minister Alberto Otárola imposes three-day curfew in Puno region in the south in an attempt to defuse protests.

01/09/2023

At least seventeen people are killed in protests in the south against the jailing of Castillo. The government bans a visit by Evo Morales, former Bolivian president, who attempted to arrive to support the protests.

01/09/2023

Peru bans Evo Morales as the struggle in Bolivia continues.

12/29/2022

Supreme Court upholds 18-month pre-trial detention of Castillo.

12/27/2022

Protests against Castillo’s ouster continue, with some violence. Twenty-two people have been killed.

12/26/2022

Anti-corruption unit detains six generals in the investigation into Castillo. There are allegations that the Castillo government illegally promoted police and military officers.

12/20/2022

Congress to discuss moving elections forward to 2023, from 2026, one of the main demands of the protestors.

12/20/2022

Mexico announces that it will give former Peru president Pedro Castillo asylum. Peru asks Mexican ambassador to leave.

12/14/2022

Government imposes nationwide state of emergency. Castillo calls on his supporters to march to the prison where he is being held.

12/13/2022

Protests, increasingly violent, continue in support of Castillo, blocking parts of the Pan-American Highway and the airport in Cusco. Leftist presidents of Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia say that Castillo is still the legitimate president of Peru.

12/12/2022

Protests continue.

12/11/2022

Large protests in support of Castillo in Arequipa and other cities. There have been some deaths from conflict with the police. Fights break out in a special session convened by Congress. Rural unions and indigenous peoples call for Castillo to be released and demand new elections.

12/07/2022

Castillo removed. Boluarte becomes president

As parliament prepares to vote on impeaching Castillo for the third time, this time after multiple investigations into his financial conduct, he announces that he is dissolving the legislature and instituting an “exceptional emergency government.” Several ministers quit in protest and the Supreme Court accuses Castillo of mounting a coup. The police and armed forces announce they support the constitutional order. Parliament ignores his announcement and votes to impeach him, 101 to 6. Castillo is subsequently arrested and accused of rebellion. Vice-president Dina Boluarte is sworn in as president and says she will serve out his term, which ends 7/25.

12/03/2022

Southern Peru experiencing its worst drought in almost a half century.

11/06/2022

Large marches in Lima calling for Castillo to leave office. He is now the target of six criminal cases involving corruption or association with corruption.

10/11/2022

Attorney General Patricia Benavides files a constitutional complaint against Castillo, saying that there are indications of a criminal organization in the government aimed at controlling hiring to gain profits illegally. Castillo calls it a coup. PM Torres says the complaint is unconstitutional because the president can only be charged with treason or obstructing elections.

08/29/2022

Yenifer Paredes, Castillo’s sister-in-law and close family member is given 30 months of pre-trial detention. Prosecutors allege that she was involved in an extensive corruption scheme to benefit allies of Castillo. There are multiple investigations into Castillo’s friends and partners.

05/30/2022

Prosecution Office launches investigation into Castillo’s “criminal organization, aggravated influence peddling, and aggravated collusion.” It is not clear that the constitution allows the president to be charged with a crime except for very specific reasons.

05/29/2022

Government lifts state of emergency imposed 10/21.

04/07/2022

Protests continue. Government declares state of emergency and deploys military to the highways for the next month. Protests have blocked roads.

04/04/2022

Large-scale protests, some violent, over rising food, fuel, and fertilizer costs, in part caused by the war in Ukraine. Inflation has reached a 26-year high. The government has removed a fuel tax and Castillo issued a decree increasing the minimum wage by 10%, but protests have only grown, and the police were called out to suppress the protests.

03/29/2022

Castillo survives impeachment. Fifty-five vote to impeach him, fifty-four not, and nineteen abstained.

03/17/2022

Court authorizes the release of Alberto Fujimori from prison. Fujimori was pardoned on 12/24/73, but the Constiutional Court said the pardon was irregular. Now the same court, but with some new members, reinstates that pardon.

03/14/2022

Congress votes to debate the impeachment of Castillo. He and his lawyer will testify to Congress on 3/28. The opposition accuses Castillo of “treason” for saying that he is open to a referendum about allowing Bolivia access to the ocean. Castillo’s approval in polls has plummeted since his election. The attempt is spearheaded by three conservative parties, including Popular Force led by Keiko Fujimori.

02/09/2022

Castillo swears in new cabinet with former justice minister Anibel Torres as prime minister. It will have to be approved by the opposition controlled legislature.

02/05/2022

Valer resigns after reports that he beat his daughter and his wife. He denies the accusations. The constitution requires that when a prime minister leaves office, his cabinet must resign.

02/04/2022

Castillo says the cabinet will be revised again.

02/01/2022

Prime Minister Mirtha Vásquez resigns after Castillo says he will replace her and reshuffle cabinet.

02/01/2022

Hector Valer is appointed prime minister. Valer is a conservative legislator who switched to group advocating constitutional change. He says that it could take as long as four years. Castillo appoints a new cabinet including Oscar Graham a respected economist, to the finance ministry.

12/07/2021

Parliament rejects motion to impeach Castillo as being “permanently morally incapacitated.” His poll ratings are around 25%.

11/05/2021

Congress, controlled by the opposition, approves Castillo’s second set of nominations for the cabinet, seen as more moderate than the first. The vote was 68-56. Mirtha Vasquez, a moderate left-wing politician and former head of Congress, will be prime minister.

10/06/2021

Castillo names environmentalist and rights activist Mirtha Vasquez prime minister after Bellido resigns at Castillo’s request. She is a member of the Broad Front, and her appointment may be a conciliatory move for the moderate wing in Castillo’s coalition.

08/31/2021

Court begins hearing on charges that Keiko Fujimori for her involvement in the Odebrecht scandal and for money laundering.

08/14/2021

Central bank raises interest rate to combat rising inflation. Government reimposes debt ceilings after lifing them for the COVID-19 pandemic.

08/07/2021

Most of Castillo’s cabinet is nominated from the Free Peru party, including proposed defense minister Walter Ayala, who was once accused of human trafficking. Vladimir Cerron, who founded Free Peru but was barred from running for office due to a corruption conviction, has suggested that the new government is seeking to create a constitutional crisis. If Castillo’s cabinet fails after two votes by congress, the president can dissolve congress and call for new elections. Alternatively, congress could impeach Castillo.

08/06/2021

Castillo protests that his Free Peru party is not extremist or Communist. There are calls for him to resign. Two cabinet members, including the nominated economy minister, the widely respected Pedro Francke, say they will not serve, sending the real plummeting.

08/05/2021

Castillo appoints Congressman Guido Bellido Ugarte as prime minister to widespread condemnation. Bellido has expressed sympathy with the Shining Path goals and is therefore under investigation for supporting terrorism. He is therefore barred from sitting on congressional committees, including for defense and counter-narcotics, that have access to sensitive national intelligence. However, as prime minister, he will now be able to review those documents. Bellido is also known for open homophobia.

07/19/2021

Castillo declared president

Castillo declared the winner of the election by the election commission with 50.13% of the vote to Fujimori’s 49.87. Fujimori concedes but also says the election was fraudulent.

06/10/2021

With most votes counted, Castillo leads with 50.29% of the vote to Fujimori’s 49.71%. Fujimori alleges fraud. The count has not been officially approved.

06/07/2021

With most votes counted, Castillo leads with 50.29% of the vote to Fujimori’s 49.71%. Fujimori alleges fraud.

06/06/2021

Voting in presidential election. In latest polls, Keiko Fujimori holds a very slight lead over Pedro Castillo, a school teacher new to politics.

04/30/2021

COVID-19 ravaging South America, in part due to massive outbreak of variant and ineffective response to it in Brazil. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru all record highest death toll.

04/13/2021

With most votes counted, Castillo has 19% and will face Fujimori, who won 13%, in a runoff in June.

04/11/2021

Presidential election. President Patrice Talon is expected to win after opposition parties boycott election because of violence. Talon also reneged on his promise to serve only one term and has changed election laws to give him control of parliament. Most opposition figures are now exiled, disqualified, or under investigation.

11/17/2020

Sagasti named president

Legislature names Francisco Sagasti, an engineer a new member of the legislature, to be president. He is not well known. Protests are expected to continue.

11/15/2020

Merino resigns

After days of protest, Merino resigns. He was seen as a member of the corrupt political class. He says his cabinet will remain in place while Congress chooses a new president. Most of the ministers, however, resigned overnight.

11/10/2020

Merino elected president

Head of Congress, Manuel Merino, an agronomist and businessman from the minority Popular Action party, takes office as president according to the rules of succession. He will remain in office until the end of July 2021, when his predecessor's term was due to expire. A presidential elected will be held as scheduled on 4/11/21.

11/09/2020

Vizcarra ousted

Vizcarra is convicted in an impeachment vote. He is accused of taking bribes and also failing to respond adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic. He says he will step down immediately, but he is innocent of corruption charges.

09/19/2020

Vizcarra is acquitted in impeachment vote, 78-32 with 15 abstentions.

05/04/2020

Vizcarra announces a plan to reduce restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic. Peru now has almost 46,000 cases and 1300 deaths.

04/27/2020

Vizcarra’s popularity extremely high due to his quick response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has more than 27,000 confirmed cases and more than 700 deaths, but the citizenry appreciate his widespread testing and use of the military to enforce the stay-at-home order and the curfew. More than 60,000 have been arrested. Vizcarra also created one of the largest economic support laws in the world.

04/18/2020

Police block citizens attempting to flee the stay-at-home order in Lima. Peru has more than 16,000 confirmed cases, second-largest amount in South America.

04/08/2020

Government extends state of emergency to 4/26.

03/16/2020

Peru issues national stay-at-home order due to COVID-19 pandemic.

03/12/2020

Government closes schools due to COVID-19 pandemic.

02/25/2020

In election results, no party receives more than 11% of the vote. New or previously minor parties such as Podemos Perú, the Purple Party and the Agricultural People's Front had good results. The Fujimorist Popular Force, the largest party in the previous legislature, lost most of its seats, and the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) fails to win a seat, its worst election ever. Contigo, the successor to former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's Peruvians for Change party, failed to win a seat and received only around 1% of the vote. The result was seen as representative of public support for President Martín Vizcarra's anti-corruption reform proposals.

01/30/2020

With much of the vote tallied but still not official, The Agricultural People’s Front of Peru (FREPAP, and also called Las Israelitas), a religious party whose members dress in flowing robes, has won about 9%, the second-largest tally.

01/26/2020

New congress elected

In early returns for elections for the new Congress of the Republic, the Popular Action party (AP) wins the largest number of seats, but only about 15% of the vote. The AP was founded by Fernando Belaúnde, who ran for president against Fujimori in 2000. The new radical-centrist Purple Party, led by Julio Guzmán, is second. Popular Force, led by Keiko Fujimori, seems to have lost substantially. However, with 22 parties receiving votes, a coalition government is a necessity, and an advantage for Pres Vizcarra, who has no legislators pledged to him. The new legislators will hold office only until presidential and legislative elections in 2021, and will not be allowed to run again.

01/15/2020

Court rules that dissolution of congress was legal.

11/25/2019

Constitutional Tribunal orders the release of Keiko Fujimori. She was jailed in advance of a trial for being an accessory to the Odebrecht scandal.

11/05/2019

Protests resume after a short break. Pinera again resists demand that he resign.

10/21/2019

State of emergency is extended to cities in addition to Santiago. A garment factory outside Santiago is burned down. Seven people are said to be killed in the riots.

10/11/2019

Polls suggest that Vizcarra’s approval has substantially risen.

10/03/2019

Vizcarra swears in a new cabinet. Opposition says it will ask the Constitutional Tribunal to intervene, but they seem to have little likelihood of removing Vizcarra on their own.

10/02/2019

Aráoz resigns as president and the Congress begins to form the committee required during legislature’s suspension.

10/01/2019

Police affirm their loyalty to Vizcarra and patrol outside the Congress building. Vizcarra schedules new election for 1/26/20.

09/30/2019

Turmoil in government with competing presidents

President Martin Vizcarra dissolves Congress and calls for new elections. Legislators reject the proposal and suspend him from office. The name Mercedes Aráoz, former prime minster and second vice president, president. The armed forces continue to recognize Vicarra as president. The opposition neo-liberal party coalition Fuerza Popular (FP) controls Congress and are threatening to name new judges to the Constitutional Court.

04/17/2019

Former president Alain Garcia commits suicide after being served with an arrest warrant for corruption.

01/10/2019

Peru cuts diplomatic relations with Venezuela.

12/09/2018

Constitutional referendum voting. Proposals include strengthening what will be called the National Board of Justice, regulating campaign finances, limiting legislative terms, and a bicameral legislature. Vizcarra revoked his support of the bicameral legislature during the drawing up of the resolution. The other three pass.

10/28/2018

Congress approves a constitutional proposal that would prohibit consecutive terms for legislators. Congress further approves a proposal for a bicameral legislature and also weaken the powers of the president.

10/09/2018

Police arrest Keiko Fujimori, opposition leader and daughter of disgraced ex-president Alberto Fujimori, for alleged money laundering involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, according to her lawyer.

09/28/2018

Congress approves constitutional reform that would introduce audits in political campaigns and penalties for illegal donations.

09/26/2018

Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Paraguay, joined by Canada, submit a complaint against Venezuela with the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

07/29/2018

Congress attempts to delay or end changes to the constitution. Vizcarra subsequently threatens a motion of no-confidence that would close congress.

07/28/2018

Vizcarra calls for a constitutional referendum that would prohibit private funding of political campaigns, ban reelection of legislators, and create a bicameral legislature.

06/28/2018

Prosecutor's Office begins inquiry into whether former Pres Kuczynski offered political rewards to avoid being removed from office during the impeachment process of 12/17.

03/23/2018

Vice-president Martin Vizcarra is sworn in as president.

03/21/2018

Kuczynski resigns

Though protesting his innocence, Kuczynski resigns.

03/20/2018

Videos are released showing collusion between Kuczynski lawyer Kenji Fujimori negotiating with a member of the legislature to give privileges and profits to an MP in order to vote against the impeachment in 12/17. The event is known as the kenjivideos scandal.

12/21/2017

Kucyznski avoids impeachment

Kucyznski avoids impeachment after a close vote in Congress. Seventy-nine voted for impeachment, eight short of the required number.

12/15/2017

Parliament votes to consider impeachment of Pres. Kuczynski on charges of corruption related to Odebrecht and the Brazilian Car Wash investigation, which has now ensnared large parts of South America.

11/14/2017

Eleven nations sign the Asia-Americas trade agreement now called the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” (CPTPP). Canada bowed out at the last minute. Canada did not make its objections explicit, but they may relate to internal politics. The signatories are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.